Photo credit: BBC
A group of over 60 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers who were held for more than three years on the island of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago were unlawfully detained by the United Kingdom government officials, a judge ruled yesterday.
A Lawyer Writes reports that in most cases their unlawful detention lasted from October 2023 until two weeks ago, when they were flown to the UK. they had been assisted by the Royal Navy after their fid=shing boat got into difficulties while they were attempting to reach Canada.
Access to Diego Garcia, halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia, is normally restricted to military personnel, government officials and support staff. The coral atoll houses a major strategic United States air and sea base, held on a lease from the UK.
The 35-page judgement was delivered yesterday by Margaret Obi while sitting as acting judge of the territory’s first-instance court. Counsel for the commissioner had argued at an unprecedented hearing in Diego Garcia in September that the claimants were not being detained, but if they were – or had been – then their detention was lawful.
Obi said, “A striking feature of this case is that the commissioner prevented the claimants from leaving the camp even after they were granted bail by this court on 23 April 2024. It is trite law that an order takes effect from the date it is made, unless otherwise specified, and must be obeyed, unless or until, it is discharged …Failing to give effect to the bail order is further evidence that the claimants were detained.”
